Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
103. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the Government continues to tolerate the actions of the British Government in blocking access for Irish fishermen to their traditional fishing grounds around Rockall; and the estimated financial costs of this action to Irish fishermen in 2021. [6887/22]
View answerThe Minister will be acutely aware of the impact of the outrageous blocking of access for Irish fishermen to the fisheries around Rockall by the British Government. As I understand it, this cost our fishermen more than €7 million last year. What are he and the Minister for Foreign Affairs doing about this absolute outrage?
I thank the Deputy for raising this question, which is particularly important for a significant number of fishermen, numbering some 25 or 26, who fish for squid and haddock inside the Rockall 12-mile zone. He referred to the estimated financial costs associated with this. As he knows, I received the task force report, Navigating Change, last October. The impact of the loss of access to these waters on the Irish fishing vessels that have traditionally fished for squid and haddock in the waters around Rockall was examined by the task force. To clarify the figures I provided to the House in response to a previous question on this issue, the task force estimated that, in 2019, the total squid fishery was valued at approximately €6.6 million. The majority of squid is taken from the waters surrounding Rockall and this amounted to 1,071 tonnes valued at in excess of €5 million in 2019, and 371 tonnes valued at €1.6 million in 2020. The estimate by the task force of the catch of other stocks near Rockall is €1 million.
I launched a Brexit temporary fleet tie-up scheme in September 2021 on foot of the task force recommendation. The scheme was established as a targeted measure for certain segments of the fishing fleet to mitigate the loss of income in 2021 arising from the significant quota reductions under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. In line with the task force recommendations, I extended that scheme for an additional month to cover vessels that could not participate in the Rockall squid fishery. The scheme was administered by Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM.
As the Deputy knows, Ireland has never made any claims to Rockall, nor have we ever recognised British sovereignty claims over it. Accordingly, we have not recognised and do not recognise a 12 nautical mile territorial sea around it. This remains very much the Government position. We have been in contact with the relevant Scottish and UK authorities on Rockall over recent years and intensively since the beginning of last year. Through this engagement, the Government is seeking to address the issues involved, reflecting the long-standing fisheries traditions in the area. Both the Minister for Foreign Affairs and I continue to consider all options for further engagement and are working in every way we can to secure a satisfactory resolution this year. I will continue to monitor the situation and will consider, later in the year, introducing a further tie-up scheme, if required, for the vessels impacted by lack of access to the fishery.
The problem is that we are one year on and what is happening is absolutely outrageous. I do not believe, for example, that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, would tolerate his fishermen being treated like this. We saw his response to the British Government when it pushed the boat in that scenario. It is astonishing that, one year on, I am getting exactly the same response from the Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs as we got a year ago. Internationally, the British claim on Rockall is not accepted. It is a very audacious and provocative claim and it is not accepted. Why are we allowing the British Government to enforce a blockade of our fishermen around Rockall when the British claim is not recognised internationally? Why have we not taken this to international arbitration? It is absolutely astonishing what is being allowed to happen and it reflects the lack of respect for our fishermen from too many Governments.
I assure the Deputy there is no lack of respect for fishermen from me or the Government. In fact, I massively respect the work they do, the challenging role they have, the daily ordeal and challenge of fishing in what can be very difficult and dangerous seas, and the contribution they make to our economy nationally and to coastal communities in particular. I have backed them since my appointment and will continue to back them in every way I possibly can, whether that be through investment in their sectors, in harbours and piers, or in processing and adding value.
The Deputy knows as well as I do the massive challenge we have in regard to Brexit. We see that in Northern Ireland in the ongoing challenges around the Northern Ireland protocol. It is not easy and nowhere near as easy as it would have been pre-Brexit, when all of the British fishing waters were part of the European waters. As the Deputy knows, one third of our fish is caught in British waters. If we had not had a deal on Brexit, we would have been blocked from all of those waters, not just Rockall. We would not have been able to go near Rockall and we would not have been able to go near any of the waters around Rockall in the event of a no-deal outcome because Rockall sits within British waters.
The issue at stake here is whether Britain can apply a 12-mile exclusive zone. Under no circumstances do we accept its claim on that because Rockall is in an uninhabited island. Arbitration could take years potentially. We want to try to resolve this and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and I are working closely to try to do so as quickly as possible. As the Deputy knows, it is not easy and the experience regarding the protocol and so on speaks to the same challenge we face here.
We are one year on. I warned the Minister last year when he passed legislation that formally accepted Britain's claim over the Rockall area, which is exactly what it did, that he was strengthening the British case to block our fishermen. I watched him and the Minister for Foreign Affairs shaking their heads. Here we are, all this time later, and we still have an outrageous scenario whereby Irish fishermen are blocked from fishing in their traditional fishing grounds around Rockall, costing us millions of euro. The Minister knows the impact in Greencastle, Killybegs and Castletownbere. It is absolutely outrageous that this is allowed to happen. No harm to him and the Minister for Foreign Affairs but their efforts have not succeeded. I see no passion or outrage from them on this issue. It needs to be sorted out. If it needs to go to international arbitration to shame the British Government internationally, then so be it. What is happening cannot stand.
I remember that debate and how the Deputy used his contribution straight after the debate. No doubt he had somebody in his office on the Facebook machine. His closing line was "Rock on, Rockall" and the Facebook post included his contribution plus the tune from which that line is taken. It was playing to an audience and trying not to get into the detail and not to recognise the real challenges and facts.
That is incorrect.
That is exactly what the Deputy did.
Will the Deputy allow me to answer?
The Minister to conclude.
If we had not had a deal on Brexit, not only would we be excluded from the Rockall waters but from all British waters. We would not be having the argument about the 12-mile zone around Rockall; we would be having an argument about all waters within the British fishing zone, within which Rockall is placed and always has been placed. The Deputy can try to say it was not but it always has been. The part we have always disputed is whether the British Government has a right to an exclusive 12-mile access around Rockall. We say there is not an entitlement to a 12-mile zone because it is an uninhabited island. We dispute that claim. Technically, the issue can be difficult to explain, and the Deputy tries to exploit that and not give a clear representation of the facts.
For God's sake.
Thank you, Minister. We must move on.
I assure the Deputy that I fully recognise the challenge this is for the many vessels involved and we are working to try to resolve the situation.
